Alternate Finance Minister Thodoros Skylakakis referred to the good prospects of the Greek economy at an event held in Kozani for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0".
"In the coming years, Greece - and Western Macedonia - is sure to experience an economic and investment boom, as long as the current policy of reforms and fiscal stability continues," he pointed out.
He underlined that, despite the successive crises (pandemic, energy and Turkish threat), Greece has a lower public debt as a percentage of GDP than it had in 2019.
In addition, it has a higher growth rate than the European average, recording an improvement in all the efficiency indicators of the economy and has access to a huge amount of capital, which has started to flow into the economy, from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Regarding the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0", he said that of the 60 billion euros that are expected to be mobilised, approximately 45 billion euros will concern private investments.
Elsewhere, MYTILINEOS Energy & Metals and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain on Thursday announced the signing of a private wire Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) relating to the energy generated from a 4.9 MW solar farm in Italy.
The solar power plant will reach commercial operation in mid-2023 and it will be built on the premises of Saint-Gobain’s historical factory in Vidalengo, near Bergamo. With this solar asset, more than 7.5 GWh of renewable electricity per year will be produced, displacing more than 3,900 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year - the equivalent of the yearly carbon footprint of ca. 700 people living in Italy.
Yiannis Kalafatas, Chief Executive Director of MYTILINEOS’ Energy Sector stated: “MYTILINEOS is evolving into an integrated utility, but as it is at the same time one of the largest power-intensive industries in Europe, understands the increased needs of its partners."
"Italy represents a strategic country for the Company and with this agreement we are demonstrating our capabilities to support local industries in this difficult period of energy volatility and our support to the Italian energy independence policy.”
This 10-year PPA secures a significant portion of Saint-Gobain’s electricity consumption in Vidalengo factory. In addition, locking into a favorable electricity price ensures business competitiveness, as it reduces operational costs in part due to significant savings on grid fees. The project falls under the Italian regulation for self-consumption, known as SEU.
Gaetano Terrasini, Saint-Gobain’s Italian CEO, said: “Sustainability is part of Saint-Gobain's DNA. The Group's vision is to become worldwide leader in sustainable construction, not only thanks to our solutions that make it possible to build energy efficient and comfortable buildings, but thanks to our production processes too, for which we have set ambitious targets in terms of CO2, waste and water reduction."
"The closing of this agreement for our Vidalengo plant represents one of the actions that will support Italian operation to achieve the Group's aspiring goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.”
READ MORE: Greek unemployment rate fell in December, inflation fell in January.